War of the Worlds, The
Lyndon | produced by = George Pal; Frank Freeman, Jr. | music by = Leith Stevens | cinematography = George Barnes | edited by = Everett Douglas | distributed by = Paramount Pictures | release date(s) = August 26th, 1953 | mpaa rating = | running time = 85 min. | country = USA | language = English | budget = $2,000,000 IMDB; The War of the Worlds (1953); Box office & business. | gross revenue = | preceded by = | followed by = }} The War of the Worlds is an American science fiction feature film of the alien invasion subgenre. It is an adaptation of the novel The War of the Worlds, written by author H.G. Wells and first published in 1898. The film was directed by Byron Haskin with a screenplay written by Barr Lyndon. It was produced by Paramount Pictures and premiered in the United States on August 26th, 1953. The film stars Gene Barry as Doctor Clayton Forrester, Ann Robinson as Sylvia Van Buren, and Les Tremayne as Major General Mann. The film is considered a hallmark of the science fiction genre and is one of the most iconic movies of the 1950s. Plot In southern California, Dr. Clayton Forrester, a scientist who had worked on the Manhattan Project, is fishing with colleagues when a large object crashes near the town of Linda Rosa. At the impact site, he meets Sylvia Van Buren and her uncle, Pastor Matthew Collins. Later that day, the "cylinder" opens and the inhabitants of the ship kill a welcoming party, simultaneously shutting down all technology in the town with an electromagnetic pulse. The United States military surround the crash site in battle formation as reports pour in of identical objects landing all over the world and destroying cities. Collins attempts to make peace with the Martians before being killed himself. The Martian war machines effortlessly defeat the military with a "Heat-Ray". Attempting to escape, Forrester and Sylvia hide in an abandoned farm house. They begin to develop romantic feelings for each other before the house is buried by yet another cylinder. They encounter and dismember an "electronic eye" from the Martian machine, and collect a blood sample from a Martian wounded by Forrester to protect Sylvia. They manage to sneak away from the aliens without being seen. Many of the major capitols of the world are destroyed in the attacks and the United States government makes the decision to use nuclear weapons against the invaders. Forrester brings the Martian camera and blood samples to his team at Pacific Tech, with hope they can study the technology. An attempt to destroy a camp of Martians by nuclear strike fails due to the integrity of their shields, but Forrester remains hopeful they can fight the Martians by studying the blood samples and finding a biological weakness. As the Martians advance on Los Angeles, with nothing left to fight them, the city is evacuated and many of the inhabitants are forced to live in the wilderness. Forrester, Sylvia and the Pacific Tech team are split apart by looters and their scientific equipment is stolen or destroyed. Forrester searches for Sylvia in the city while the Martians cause widespread destruction. Based on a story she had told him earlier, he deduces that she would be hiding in a church. After searching through a couple of churches, he finds Sylvia in the third among many praying survivors. Just as the Martians strike the church, their machines suddenly crash. Forrester finds the pilot of one such machine dead, and notes that they were "all praying for a miracle". It is revealed that while the Martians were impervious to humanity's weapons, they had no immunity to Earthly bacteria, and began to die from common illness all over the world. Wikipedia:The War of the Worlds (1953 film); Plot. Archived (9-17-2016). Cast Notes & Trivia * The War of the Worlds. War of the Worlds (1953), The War of the Worlds (1953), and War of the Worlds, The (1953) all redirect to this page. * The tagline for this film is "Mighty panorama of Earth-shaking fury as an army from Mars invades!" * Production on The War of the Worlds began in January, 1952. Filming concluded in February, 1952. The movie was shot in areas of Florence and Phoenix, Arizona with studio shots being filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. IMDB; War of the Worlds (1953); Filming locations. * There are a total of thirteen credited cast members in this film. Twelve are male cast members and one is a female. Ann Robinson is the only female character in this film not counting extras and uncredited cast members. * The central setting for this movie is California in the then-present day era of the early 1950s. * Actor Robert Cornthwaite is credited as Bob Cornthwaite in this film. * Actor Houseley Stevenson, Jr.'s name is mis-spelled as Housely Stevenson, Jr. in this film. * Actor William Phipps is credited as Bill Phipps in this film. * Actor Cedric Hardwicke is credited as Sir Cedric Hardwicke in this film. * The War of the Worlds won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and went on to influence other science fiction films. * War of the Worlds was remade as a big-budget feature in 2005 by director Steven Spielberg. Original cast members Gene Barry and Ann Robinson make cameo appearances in the film as grandparents. * A smaller remake of War of the Worlds was also released in 2005, and went to the direct-to-video market. This film was written and directed by David Michael Latt and was produced by The Asylum. * War of the Worlds was adapted into a Canadian television series produced by Paramount Television. It aired in syndication from 1988 to 1990 and ran for two seasons. * Actor Les Tremayne will go on to play a creepy old man named Mentor in the 1974 TV series Shazam!. * Martians are dicks. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it. * "War of the Worlds" was also the title to issue #3 of the ''JLA'' comic book series in 1997. Recommendations See also External Links * * * * The War of the Worlds at Wikipedia * * References Category:Films Category:1953/Films Category:August, 1953/Films Category:Paramount Pictures Category:War of the Worlds/Media Category:Films with crew categories